A Horse,
a Horse, My Kingdom for a Horse
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of
Bosworth, the final major battle of that English civil war titled The War of
the Roses (this conflict was at the time sometimes referred to as the Cousin’s
War). It was at this battle that King
Richard III, variously identified as the last King from the House of
Plantagenet or the House of York, fell, he being the last English King to die
in battle. Henry Tudor, the victor, then
became King Henry VII.
Henry’s victory in battle was if anything
surprising. Richard’s forces outnumbered
those of Henry. Meanwhile, Lord Stanley
(William Stanley) held back his own force; if combined with that of Henry, that
of Richard would have been out-numbered.
Conversely, if Stanley joined with Richard, the weight of the forces
arrayed against Henry would have been overwhelming. Richard held Stanley’s son as a hostage. As battle was about to commence, Richard sent
word to Stanley that if Stanley did not join with him, he would execute
Stanley’s son. Stanley replied, “I have
other sons.”
To provide but a taste as to why this
conflict was referred to as the Cousins War, consider that William Stanley was
the brother of Thomas Stanley, husband of Margaret Beaufort, she being the
mother of Henry Tudor. Ergo, Lord
Stanley was the brother-in-law to Henry’s mother. Thomas Stanley had previously been married to
Eleanor Neville, sister to Warwick the Kingmaker and aunt to Richard III’s
recently deceased wife Anne Neville. That wife was a daughter of Warwick.
Richard’s attack upon Henry’s position
nearly succeeded; Henry’s
standard-bearer William Brandon was killed at Henry’s side. Polydore Virgil, a contemporary
historian/chronicler, recorded that Richard fought well. However, Richard’s fate was sealed when the
Stanley family and its retainers, having until then not committed to either
side, rode against Richard’s infantry as his cavalry was separately moving
against Henry.
William Brandon’s son Charles, ultimately
Duke of Suffolk, would become the best friend of Henry VIII.
In 2012, Richard’s remains were located
in the course of excavations under a parking lot that now covers part of what
was the Blackfriars (Dominican) Church in Leicester, England; early 2013 saw
the announcement that testing had confirmed the remains were those of
Richard. In sad testimony to the modern
age, litigation ensued as to whether Richard should be re-buried in Leicester
Cathedral, apparently consistent with the terms of the agreement by which the
archaeological work was performed and other British law, or in York where
certain claimed descendants of Richard assert he would want to have been
buried. That question was resolved in
favor of Leicester, and in 2016 Richard III was laid to rest in Leicester
Cathedral.
Notwithstanding Polydore Virgil’s positive
comments as to Richard III, in proof of the adage that the winners write the
history, his reputation was besmirched by various Tudor affiliates such as St.
Thomas More and William Shakespeare. He
is currently being reassessed by historians who are not so indebted to
supporting the legitimacy of the House of Tudor.
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